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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 7, 2007 - 03:26pm PT
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Thanks to everyone for the reports and thoughts and photos from the FaceLift. It was a lot of fun, and nice to meet everyone and hang out! Special thanks to Ken and the YCA for all the hard work to make it happen.
National Public Lands Day in 2008 is Saturday, September 27th, so now's the time to plan ahead. This presumably means the 2008 FaceLift will be September 24th - 28th. (Ken?)
Before memories grow dim, I thought I'd ask for suggestions for improvements for next year, especially regarding SuperTopian involvement. In terms of the FaceLift itself, you can of course also send a note directly to Ken. But any and all ideas welcome. Please bear 46 in mind that the main goal is to help Ken and the YCA, and enlist SuperTopians to do so. Not to make his life more complicated. There are many "could dos" that may not pass this test.
Please also remember that our (free!) use of Yellow Pines is a privilege. It could easily become a victim of its own success, with or without a sergeant type keeping people in line. (Nobody I know. I was hardly there.) Yes, we have a bit more flexibility there than we would elsewhere in the Valley. The trade off is that we have to be responsible as a group for behaving reasonably. That is, ensuring that:
 Our numbers roughly correspond with what is allowed.
Noise is kept within reasonable limits and times and places. (A lot of people can only tolerate drumming and such in moderation, and are usually too polite to tell the drummers to STFU.)
Everyone reasonably contributes to the success of the FaceLift, by helping directly, by providing support (sushi), and by contributing toward group costs - sushi, pancakes, etc. Freeriders need to be uninvited.
Our behaviour generally is appropriate to the Valley and the environment, and a credit to the climbing community.
Yellow Pines holds a nominal maximum of 100 - 4 sites x 25. We can probably get the entire site for the first few days of the FaceLift, e.g. Sunday - Thursday night. On the weekend we can likely only have half, i.e. 50 places.
My suggestions:
1. As far as possible, people plan now to be there.
2. Wherever possible, people pre-book space in other campgrounds, to allow more space in Yellow Pines, and maximize numbers. They'd have to travel to and from FaceLift sites, and Yellow Pines, but camp space may be at a premium. Ken can't provide space for everyone.
3. One major evening social event (sushi, BBQ) at Yellow Pines on the Tuesday night. Including music, and even drumming - but at one end of the campsite, ending at a reasonable time. Perhaps lesser evening events other days.
4. A large pancake breakfast on the last morning. Perhaps on other mornings, though like the sushi they're a lot of work, and we don't want the socials to overwhelm the real reason why we're there.
5. Design social events so that they're self-funding, and perhaps make a little for the YCA.
6. Publicize the importance of helping with the FaceLift, and generally being good citizens while in the Valley.
7. If possible, have half a dozen people arrive early, perhaps the weekend before, to help Ken with the multitude of things that need to be done. Up to what he needs, but the event is getting very large, and some deputies may be helpful.
8. Possibly a little more organization in terms of who will do what where, e.g. assigning SuperTopians/climbers to go with school groups, help out, and tell tales about climbing and the Valley.
9. Something about showers, or coupons for same - but then we have to figure out some way to track who "earns" them.
10. If we can figure out some way for more people to car pool or take transit to get to the FaceLift, that would be excellent.
Anyway, it's a start. Ideas and comments welcome.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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I'll be there next year. I think it should extend to Sept 29th to include my birthday though. It'd be great to get more of that mighty good cake. ;)
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Charming Dawn and I will return next year. As for the rest of your suggestions - let me think them over a bit before I post any reply.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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From my perspective, camping at Yellow Pines was great (except for one bear #47).
Maybe I just slept through some crazy behavior, but to me noise was not an issue. In addition I saw zero use of lettuce or other illegal acts. Contrary to what is sometimes portrayed, the vast majority of people attending these events are not looking for trouble or engaging in illegal behaviors that require any sort of policing. Just my thoughts...
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Let's run down your suggestion list if I may -
1. Preplanned attendance - sounds fine for rough guesstimate purposes. Need to consider that lives and plans can change over the course of a year so flexibility needs to remain.
2. Alternate campsites. Not sure why...you seem to imply that the ST crowd monopolized the ground. In reality, we managed to get quite a few tents in Sections A and B. No encroachment occurred into the Wells Fargo areas of C and D. In actuality, we could have easily doubled the number of tents in the area since we were spread apart by 25 to 30 feet as it were. Density was not an issue.
3. Social Event ala Sushifest. Help me out - are you suggested we limit such a event to a single evening? I thought that's what we did. The other two sushi dinners were relatively impromptu events - one to welcome Crimpergirl to the Valley and the third to finish off the perishables.
If the noise is the main issue - then yes, everyone was too polite to tell Bongo Boy and His Traveling Allstars to STFU. But that may also be that no one was surprised that the first night at summer camp is long and noisy. Kinda comes with the territory.
As for location - I recall that you pushed for us to "party" at the far end of Section A - but instead, the crowd gravitated to where Nature had set up the food court. Yes, we could look at placing that nexus more towards the edges of the campground. A minor issue that is easily remedied.
4. Pancake breakfast - I leave the final word of this to Three M Tim. It was his equipment and his labor. As an observer - I thought it went well and you even passed the pot for funds - over $160 collected I believe.
As for the "social's" overwhelming our purpose - I would suggest that for many of us ST lurkers and fencesitters - it was the SOCIAL that got us off our butts and there in the first place. Oh yes - we also managed to pick quite an impressive pile of garbage too. Point being - don't discount the social aspect - it was the best targeted advertising I saw on this site for Facelift.
5. Self-funding. Mostly a business decision on the parts of the caterers. That does not mean that they should be taken advantage of by anyone however. I do recall that both the final Sushifest and the Pancake affair raised money that both Nature and 3MTim submitted to YCA.
6. Publicity - where is the issue? It appeared to me that the Supertopians made up the vast majority of the garbage pickers for the first two days of the event. As a group, we were certainly in the forefront of collecting the improbable garbage - every thing from roadside TV's, to tons of heavy metal debris to even swimming the Merced to get that one bottle at the bottom of the pool.
So the work was done - now, if you are saying that this information did not easily become public knowledge - that role would fall back onto the organizers I would imagine - tho I really don't see the need as such.
7. Early arrivals - good idea especially after seeing MisterE's pics of the work you did at Ken's house. Simple answer to this need is Ken posts his request for early help - and some us might be able to help.
8. ST + Schoolgroups. Not sure what the goal is on this. Does this follow with the public relations idea in Item #6? Are you wanting something low key and organic such as casual story telling while picking up poop...or something more structured like an organized campfire of tales for the kids?
As for the "going where" part - I agree that it was initially a grabfest for the first day or two. By day three - the NPS had the Valley map and the colored markers and it appeared that areas were better being targeted for collection.
Did overlap and duplication of effort occur - sure. But I can also tell you that many of the ST gang went into places that none of the other volunteers would touch with a long pole. We did our part in other words.
9. Showers? This was an issue? I know that both Housekeeping and Curry usually require a fee (3 bucks or the like) to use their walk in showers. On the other hand - I was only challenged once at Curry for not paying and ended up telling 4 employees about the cleanup campaign - they let me take the shower. One supervisor even thanked us for picking up crap in the Orchard Lot (Fattrad did the actual cleanup BTW).
Coupons or vouchers would require a level of name taking, ID verification, record keeping and management that Facelift should not have to perform. Either we directly consult with DNC for unfettered use of the showers similar to the free entry from the NPS...or you pay the 3 bucks...or you just take the shower.
10. Car pool - always a good idea - a simple "ride share" thread next fall on Supertopo should suffice.
Lastly, some of the later threads allude as do you in your opening paragraph to the "freeloaders". Were there some valley refugees who might have sneaked a maki roll - yep. Did some people pitch a tent in Yellowpines for a night while waiting for a space at C4 - yep. Did people come to the YCA party for free food and beer who had not touched a garbage bag all week - yep - I never once saw Alex Huber with an orange pickup stick!
Did any of the above matter?
Everyone who should have gotten sushi did so and ate well. One extra tent did not capsize Yellowpines. As for the YCA party - freeloading is their problem to ignore or address - not Supertopo's.
Besides - dirtbags in the Valley are a given - as much a part of the native fauna as are bears. Live with them - if they get too close or too numerous - chase them off.
Anders - I would always agree than any plan can be tweaked and tightened. But only so much as it needs to be. From my perspective I feel that this group of people from Supertopo did well. We cleaned the Park and we had fun. What other goals were we to have had?
Rick
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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I'm in complete agreement Corporate Dog Rick.
It was a success. I'm glad any "free-loaders" were there too since they added as much to each event as the "non-free-loaders".
I wouldn't change a thing about any of it - can't wait for next year!
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jstan
climber
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I think Anders outlined the envelope for operation of Facelift and it seemed to me they were pretty much all met during the actual event.
Once I began to pick up significant amounts of toilet paper I must admit I developed an unexpected and deeply felt desire to shower each night. Just a weakness in my character, but there it is. I feel badly about misusing the showers in Curry Village. Perhaps there is a way I can, after the fact, either pay for that service or otherwise express my gratitude. Perhaps someone can help me with this.
As an aside, it seems to me the posts on ST following the event show the ST community has changed as a result of what we did. Each of us has a lot to look back at and feel good about.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 7, 2007 - 08:28pm PT
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Thanks, all. I was simply trying to summarize everything that I'd heard from anyone about the FaceLift, especially regarding the SuperTopian participation. Many of the things mentioned aren't my ideas.
I think overall it went very well, and we don't need or want more organization. My only real concern is that we need to think about what we'd do if there are larger numbers next year, which could easily happen. That, and offering everyone a chance to make suggestions for improvements.
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jstan
climber
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During the Facelift those of us working on roads with no shoulders were thinking about suggesting the NPS put up a warning about volunteers on the roadway at each entrance station. But it turns out studies have shown such warnings produce no effect once a car has passed the sign.
On 120 we tried to work directly opposite each other on the two sides of the road. That gave us the greatest chance one of us would be seen no matter how the road was turning. Holding the very visible blue bags out into the roadway also helped to brush the traffic back. All told I don't think we had too much of a problem.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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I trust Ken to set the "rules" of participation for the Facelift. I don't have a good enough feel for the attitudes of the DMC or NPS to guess what their reactions are to whole thing, though, it seems that the reactions have been very positive.
Freeloaders, well, when Crimpergirl and I were working the Timmy O'Neal show we "suggested" a $10 contribution. Lot's of people asked what "suggestion" meant, replying with a smile "we suggest a $10 contribution, but you could suggest something else" and we'd get a range of contributions. One climber handed Crimpie a handfull of change, probably all he had free to give. We let them in, and gave them a raffle ticket if the contribution was above $1... it's all for a good cause and people give what they can or want to, in terms of donations, or time to pick up trash, or anything else.
Is it enough? the idea is to get people to participate, to clean up the Valley, to get to know all of the "stakeholders" involved in managing and using the Valley.
Isn't it amazing, Ken has the climbers sitting at the table of stakeholders...
I'll let Ken guide us... suggestions are a good thing, especially on how we can conduct our own participation (like car pooling, etc). I'll let Ken decide how to organize the thing, he seems to be doing a good job so far!
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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"Khanom and I were brainstorming about technical resources that might facilitate the tracking or assigning of areas - like a computerized mapping solution or something."
I was somewhat surprised that the NPS did not have a more detailed map of the various trails and paths that would have allowed for a more defined check off of cleaned areas.
For instance, when I cleaned the climbers path/horse trail along Washington Column base they (NPS) kept wanting to sign off the bike path too. I explained that the bike path had not yet been done but since their map only showed the bike path, not the horse trail - the undone bike path is what got colored in as complete.
So yes - a finer detailed map would be helpful. Or we just all carry our GPS mappers and download the set point info onto a Google Earth image.
Also a suggestion to the Facelift group at large - if you intend to keep cleaning the Merced, it might be nice to "pre-assign" this to people who own wetsuits. The damn water was COLD!!
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Prod
Social climber
Charlevoix, MI
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I would like to offer to help pay for drumming lessons to those who were drumming after the Tuesday night Sushifest.... MisterE? Pennsylenvy?
Prod.
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Just get the drummers drunker earlier - say start them about two in the afternoon so they can't last until three in the morning:)
Either that or I can make them an Ambien Roll!
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jstan
climber
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http://www.yosemiteblog.com/
Yosemite Facelift Overwhelming Success
October 7th, 2007
The Yosemite Climbing Association Newsletter is out and it looks like the Yosemite Facelift was an overwhelming success again this year.
Yosemite Climbing Association: “The 2007 Facelift was very successful. The final count was 2,945 volunteers that contributed 18,335 man hours. The cleaning was contagious as people jumped in to help participants fill their bags. The Park Service valued the work at $344,148.00. 132 miles of roadway were cleaned. Items including toilet paper, cigarette butts, and micro-trash were removed from the woods at all turnouts throughout the park. 80 plus miles of trails were cleaned and the Merced River Corridor was cleaned from Happy Isles to the NPS Warehouse in El Portal. All lodging, campgrounds, and housing areas in the Valley and Tuolumne were cleaned. Certain abandoned infrastructures were removed which was the majority of the weight. In all over 42,330 pounds were collected and everything that could be recycled was. About 32,000 pounds of the weight was from special projects we took on, helping rid the park of old infrastructure that NPS does not have funding to remove.
Close to 400 people attended the reception following the cleanup and enjoyed the free food and beverages provided by Delaware North Parks & Resorts at Yosemite. Thanks to over 70 sponsors who donated an array of prizes, participants were rewarded with a daily raffle and a final raffle during the reception.”
A crew from ABC News was also in the park for the Facelift. The piece is to air on the ABC World News with Charles Gibson under the “Keys to Success” segment.
Great job everyone who participated and a big thanks to Ken Yager and the folks at the YCA for their hard work pulling this off!
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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Look at how happy he is! BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM...
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Prod
Social climber
Charlevoix, MI
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Good point Crimpie, but think how much happier he could be if he had lessons....
Prod.
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Looney
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This is an advanced move (do not try this at home alone)... The head thump.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
edit: I just noticed something in that photo. Who is that going for Pennsylenvy's rump?
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Prod
Social climber
Charlevoix, MI
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Looks like the Doctors sweater...
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M3(mad moderate mtnr)
Mountain climber
Sac'to, CA
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Hey, Pencil Envy!
It's a good thing your tight little a@#$% didn't break that goldfish chair, or my little Red Ranger would have kicked your butt. That's her favorite!!!
And to return this string in a spiral (must ah been dah sugar ;-), I actually quite liked MH's "followup" becoming a vision for the 2008 YCA FaceLift.
Can't say's I can disagree with ANY of the other comments in this string, and guess that proves my take on the "community" string -- we climbers (however that is defined) can set aside some apparent differences long enough to pull off a pretty amazing thing for a place we all share an affinity for.
I'm already transfering to MS Word for an outline to success next year, for my own reference.
So here's my report: 1)$1000 Cabernet Wine from Harris Vineyards donated to YCA for supporting adaptive climbing historical focus.
SushiFest provided ambience, grand memories, focal point and anchor for the ST camp in Yellow Pines. Also I believe netted a fine donation to YCA.
Pancake breakfast -- for a maiden voyage -- was a nice success, also netting some $$$ for YCA.
Showers seemed to have been had by people in a variety of means -- if ya feel quilty send a donation to the NPS in YCA's name! If you scammed a shower at Curry or Housekeeping (you know who you free-loaders are ;-) ;-) well, sure was nice reliving a Yosemite tradition, wasn't it!!!???
Getting in was interesting (that damn "Do Not Enter" sign threw a lot of us for a loop -- literally!!! And who says climbers don't follow the rules! ;-) Getting around was interesting (thanks again, Doc). Of course gettin' out was kinda scary sometimes too, especially when Crimper was hustlin' to scam (eh, I mean pay for) a shower (PaganMonkey Boy as my witness -- he'll swear on a bundle of yarrow stalks).
And I still think Timmie O'Neill wasn't wrong when he first thought he'd walked into a Rainbow Gathering. The Come Unity that occurred in Yellow Pines was neat to watch, and I liked the organic approach. I personally felt that each & every one contributed something meaningful.
So next year:
For Sure I am IN!!! And no, I'm not interested in reserving a spot away from all the action (my truck's soundproofed, and I can just bring more wine next year).
Nature & I would already would like to coordinate efforts (this is what MH alludes to) on making a central kitchen for the social scene; we (if Ken/YCA will have us!) would gladly arrange to be in a location which maximizes pulling in some folks for a bit of socializing while donating to the YCA, while minimizing our impact on folks who need/desire earlier sleep (maybe a "party zone" keeping the same intensity as this year's fest, but making clearer what's happening. That way people can set up camp to participate as they'd like. I'm not sure that all those staying in YP were even ST tacos, but may have been there simply under YCA. We do need to enable mutual respect, while continuing to provide what each of us comes to & brings to the FaceLift. There is also much talk from others about being able to coordinate our efforts better next year on supplies. I say maybe the ST camp needs to be pruned into place (Can we have Site C & D for the duration, instead?), but still nurtured and allowed to grow in a bit of a wild state. We are a tribe, I feel, of rich colours -- maybe we can share more and find ways to make a camp where all can feel welcome, at least for the FaceLift.
Showers & shuttle stop at YP would be nice, and minimize impact. Also, I would have gotten out of camp sooner if I could have hopped a shuttle. For sure water needs to be kept full (eh, Nature!), and perhaps at some future Facelift we'll have solar showers at camp.
And for sure we need to support Ken in shaping how the ST Come-Unity continues to evolve in relation to the Yosemite FaceLift.
Now, I have one last pressing need to wine about. The Cabernet that got opened accidently seemed to be a hit, and was identical to what my sister-in-law Socorro's boss donated to YCA. Our familia continue to work with Bob & Chris Harris to process this year's grape harvest, which is the best to date. If any Super taco wants to swing through Sacramento at the opportune time (various stages happen throughout the year, with the pick and press happening this past 3 weeks), we could probably put up with them (I mean put them up) at our place, and wring some more donations from the Harris' for a good cause.
Might even have more for camp next year, to help lull the tom-toms into la-la land!
Tasha dele(k)
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Ouch!
climber
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"Just kidding!!!!!!!!!! "
No you were not kidding.
You are trolling Crowley.
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